SCI community grateful to San Luis Obispo’s Mae McDonald following 20 years of service
After 20 years of unwavering support for the San Luis Obispo Access Group, 83-year-old Mae McDonald is stepping down as the leader of the group passing the baton on to Mike Ward.
Mae (on the left) and Mike in the center, surrounded by members of NorCal SCI’s Mobile Clinic team in 2018.
A special message from Mike Ward:
22 Years ago, Mae came to my side to support me and my family when I broke my neck after a bike accident resulting in a C5 Asia A SCI. Mae and her husband John did amazing things for me and to this day, Mae still continues to be a big part of my life.
One of the first things she did was to encourage me to attend a disability group called SLO Access and honestly, the last thing I wanted to do was attend such a meeting. Mae 'convinced' me to go and even accompanied me to the meetings. I then began to see the value in joining a fellowship, sharing knowledge and having lots of fun and laughter even if you were sick or in a wheelchair. Not only did Mae bring me to this meeting, she came over once a week to clean my house, care for my children, provided us with meals and did everything in her ability to support us. Mae and her husband John were heroes!
Because of Mae's commitment and loving support, the SLO Access Group has continued to provide support and fellowship to newly injured or long-term disabled individuals and their loved ones. There have been numerous occasions when the group began to splinter or even fall apart but Mae would bring everyone back together with her wisdom and loving guidance.
"Thank you Mae for your many, many years of commitment, support and encouragement. You have touched us all in so many ways, we love you and are deeply grateful for what you have done.”
Mae and Nick
NorCal SCI co-founder, Nick Struthers, first met Mae MacDonald in January of 2018 while presenting at the SLO Access Group and instantly hit it off with a fellow Scot. Nick was a beneficiary of Mae's legendary hospitality and learned much about Mae's own remarkable journey from a challenging childhood in Glasgow, Scotland where she clearly developed her resilience. At the age of 18, she seized the opportunity to come to New York to begin a new life like many immigrants before and after her. There, she met her future husband, John McDonald before moving to the West Coast in the late 1960s and started to raise a family. Mae has three sons and now has seven grand children and three great grand children. Nick witnessed first hand Mae's commitment and loving guidance towards the SCI community in SLO and relied on her to make the first SCI Mobile Clinic in 2018 a success in SLO.
We, at NorCal SCI, are honored to recognize Mae's endless support to the SCI community over the past two decades and are looking forward to spending some time with this truly special woman when we visit SLO at our next Mobile Clinic in September.
We are also excited to know that the group's leadership is in Mike's capable hands and are committed to do what we can to support Mike in his efforts to serve the SLO’s disability community.